Fantasy VS Reality

I live in a world of fantasy so keep your reality away from me.

I see what I want, I want what I see and all this is fine by me - Anon

In Harmony Events Management

It’s almost that time of the year when everyone is starting to think about planning end of year work functions, weddings and a whole variety of awesome functions to usher in the festive season. Personally I’m great at planning things, and by planning I mean day dreaming within the walls of my mind the execution part isn’t really my area of expertise…enter Harmony Botya who is the queen of execution.

I had the privilege of attending the Launch of In Harmony Events Management earlier this year and I was thoroughly impressed by the lengths Harmony goes to in order to make your event successful and memorable for all the right reasons. I also had the opportunity to pick her brain and find out more about her, her business and some other ‘random’ things I was curious about. Oh and she was also featured in Eastern Cape Today….this girl knows her stuff

Thando: Who is Harmony Botya?

Harmony: I am what my name says I am… harmonious very passionate, driven by my career and love for people in big and small ways *smiling*

Thando: Can you let me in on what do you do and why you chose events planning as your career?

Harmony: In Harmony Events Management is a wedding and party planning business. We specialize in the planning from A-Z, meeting all your required needs for your event and coordinating the event so it runs perfectly. Wedding planning has always been my passion, thanks to Colin Cowie and Preston Bailey who introduced me to this amazing world of ‘fairy tale creation’ The choice of making this my career came naturally, like I said it’s a passion and only a passion can be on going and appearing in your everyday life.

T: What attracted you to the world of events and wedding planning and is it really as glamorous as it appears on telly?

H: like I said Colin Cowie and Preston Bailey introduced me to this industry. It was through an appearance on the Oprah Show where they were displaying their work. I was amazed by the way they had setup the tables, beautiful flowers and how they had put it all together to make a ‘fairy tale’ become a reality. Yes, it is as glamorous as it appears on TV and surprising affordable. All it takes is a passionate, professional and creative person to put it all together.

T: As a young businesswoman how do you ensure your clients take you seriously?

H: I always carry two things with me, passion and professionalism.

T: Who do you look up to locally and internationally in this in this industry?

H: Locally, Aleit from The Aleit Group and internationally Colin Cowie and Preston Bailey.

T: What has your career highlight been so far?

H: Every event that I have worked on has been a highlight, because they all have signature pieces and moments that make them unique and in harmony.

T: It seems that as South African’s we don’t take our event’s planning as seriously as our international counter parts, why do you think that there is more of a ‘buzz’ and more glamour with international events?

H: The international events are all about the finer things in life, added with a bit of elegance and perfection. Just those words finer, elegance and perfection compliment the word glamour.

T: Who is your dream client and which event would you love to put together?

H: My dream client in SA is Zizo Beda (former Miss Teen SA) and the event I would most like to put together is the opening of Parliament in Cape Town.

T: Of the following who would you date, flush or marry: Denzel Washington, John Mayer and Ryan Reynolds? (**,)

H: John Mayer- date

    Denzel Washington- flush

    Ryan Reynolds- MARRY *blushes*

What I love most about In Harmony Events Management is that she does it ALL on your budget and personalizes your event to your individual taste and style. Glamour and fabulocity on a budget…. Harmony where have you been all my life???

In Harmony Events Management:

Harmony Botya-  Cell : 073 374 1196/ 073 673 8791

Email- hbotya@gmail.com

Yes you can blog, but can you write?

The situation right now is that us poor bloggers are getting serious lip from ‘professional’ writers on social networks, such banter is unwarranted bloggers have feelings too. We have been accused of being shallow, insecure, narcissistic kids who feel out of place in the real world and seek attention by imposing their child like uneducated opinions on the inhabitants of cyber land who by viewing our blogs stroke our frail ego’s, my response????

OUCH!! (._\)

Am I insecure? Yes, I have my moments we all do. Am I a narcissist? I plead the 5^th lol but seriously a lil self-love never hurt anybody. Do I need my ego stroked by strangers? Nope…that’s why I got me a puppy; Chin is amazing at validating my self-worth. Jokes aside though, I totally get where the serious literature gods are coming from. They are old school and still believe in studying, spending time honing their craft while creating a unique writing style and love playing footsy with publishers. Seems like a shlep to me (bloggers can use words like ‘shlep’ without being kept up at night by the ghost of William Butler Yates ) all this seems like too much work, my generation does not believe in the concept of hard work, we are believers of being discovered.

The beautiful thing about blogging is that you can do you, no conforming required and no crazy grammar to adhere to. You can go wild and go about things the way you want and this relaxed nature is why more youngens * new word for youngster* are turning to blogging as an outlet to spew out their thoughts. Another thing these second rate Shakespeare's….I mean writers need to realize is that we are not trying to win a Pulitzer prize in literature or make the New York Times best seller list purely on blog posts we realize that writing is serious business that’s why we are taking a short cut hahahah.

 I have an analogy to try get my point across…. a medical student doesn’t enter Med school and then boom they are cutting people up and sowing them back together within their first semester, but something takes place between their first day in class and the day they graduate and become a medical professional. This thing that takes place during the interim is called learning, much like what is happening with me and my blogging, there is a plan here.

 I plan to write a book or two one day but I’m realistic enough to know that  right now I have no ‘juice’ ‘life experience’ or ‘stuff’ to write about yet. It may appear airy fairy but I’m going somewhere with all this It may not make sense to you but it doesn’t have to because it’s not our plan, it’s mine. Most youngens have a plan and are actually going somewhere with their seemingly silly ideas.

The microwave generation is one that likes nice yummy things, but we won’t just settle for yummy we want it yummy we want it fast and we want it on our own terms. Gone are the days of begging music executives to listen to your demo and offer you a deal ( when last did you hear of an artist approach an executive? Don’t worry I’ll wait….)  we You Tube everything and get our stuff out there ourselves. No longer do we sit around waiting for some dude in some office to believe in our dreams we have taken matters into our own hands and play the hero in our own stories, we are redefining the game and tailoring it to fit our individual style. We are different people; we have different stories, paths and views. Dreams are not one size fits all. Oh and grown-ups, weren’t you the ones who said we are all unique and special? Well we have realized this and have decided to run with it. Don’t blink you WILL miss it; we are going Usain Bolt on these dreams.  

Definition of a Full-Time Cool Kid

FULL-TIME COOL KID

Street and book smart. A Full -Time Cool Kid is comparable to King Midas. Only difference is that whatever he/she touches. Turns into cool. Tearing down conventional perceptions. Creating new paths and inspiring those around them, a Full- Time Cool Kid oozes style-from fashion, business, academia and the hustle * hee hee hee*

They dominate. Ground breakers. Go getters. Trend setters. Game changers. Play hard. Work harder. Leave a legacy.....Full-Time Cool Kid. Are you one?

To Graduates, with love

 

Our Opinion: To graduates, with love

 

Times Record News 

Saturday, May 19, 2012

This is a love letter to the Class of 2012, those graduating from high school and college.

And, even if some of this is harsh, remember, it is, in the simplest of terms, written with love. You embark on a journey that will cross our paths, in work and play, and we must find a way to love each other.

Or at the very least not hate each other.

Experts, most three times your age, spend a lot of time defining your generation, labeling you the millennials, or Generation Y, and stereotyping you as far less superior than themselves.

Grown ups do that sometimes.

You know better, and we need better.

You're not chop liver. Let's face it, your generation, born between 1980 and 2000, includes spectacular accomplishments. Mark Zuckerberg is a millennial.

Don't let your future be defined by our own definition of you.

Of millennials, we're told:

You arrive at a new job thinking you're qualified to be the boss. Gotta love the confidence.

You've been told all your life you're the best at what you do. Here's a trophy.

Six in 10 of you have switched careers, not just jobs, at least once. Ouch.

Only one-third of millennials say their current job is their career. Great.

A significant majority, about 60 percent, say it's not likely they'll stay with their current employer until retirement. Get the goodbye tablecloth ready.

The statistical information was obtained from author Rosetta Thurman's findings.

There are endearing qualities of millennials, and our future can benefit from the enthusiasm, the I-can-do-everything, I-deserve-the-trophy attitude. You arrive on your first day knowing far more than we about today's trendy gadgets and technology. We have a lot to learn from you.

You can benefit from our we-know-you-don't-know-everything willingness and patience to help you succeed.

You have a lot to learn from us.

You may not stick around with us for long, but we'll make it worth your time.

  © 2012 Scripps Newspaper Group — Online